Auburn Hills -- It's not often that professional athletes are unaware they are on the verge of breaking a record.

As Brandon Jennings piled up assist after assist in the first half of the Pistons' nail-biting win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, he claims he didn't know he was approaching hallowed ground that only Isiah Thomas stands on.

Jennings' 16 first-half "dimes" tied Thomas' record set in 1985, and his 11 first-quarter assists tied Thomas' mark as well. "I was just hooping, I really didn't know," Jennings said.

Considering Thomas is among the best point guards in modern NBA history, along with Magic Johnson, anytime a player's name is mentioned in the same breath, even for something as slight as a team record, leaves him grinning ear to ear.

Advertisement

Jennings' reaction was pretty nonchalant before he threw in a caveat.

"It's cool, I guess. But I know he owns the record for 25, so I'll try to go get that one," he said, laughing.

Thomas' team-record of 25 assists is five short of the NBA record, set by Jennings' former coach Scott Skiles in 1990. As opposed to it being empty numbers, it should be noted Jennings' assists often came after defensive stops -- in the form of Andre Drummond's shot blocking and intimidation.

"I think it's the flow of the game, especially that first half," said Jennings, who's fifth in the NBA in assists per game (8.5). "We were running, getting easy buckets. Everything was just clicking."

Jennings directed the Pistons to 64 first-half points against the Suns, with many assists of highlight variety, including an alley-oop pass off the backboard to Drummond, a feat they accomplished in Los Angeles in November.

Spectacular plays aside, Jennings will be called on to get the Pistons' offense in gear after five days off, which surely broke the Pistons' rhythm after they'd been searching for it for so long.

"It's always imperative he does that," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I think tomorrow, not just him controlling the pace but everyone has to be conscious of not playing for a while."

Jennings' big assist numbers have slightly overshadowed a huge shooting slump, where he's shooting just 26 percent from the field in his last five games and 38 percent from the field for the season.

Having Will Bynum, Chauncey Billups or Rodney Stuckey on the floor with him takes the load of playmaking off Jennings and perhaps can free him up for easier scoring opportunities.

"It's good to play with other ball handlers, to take the pressure off myself," Jennings said. "I'll just go with it. We've won two games in a row; let's keep it going."

To accomplish that, a slow start against a young Utah Jazz team can't be part of the recipe. Although the practice days have been helpful, there's nothing like actual competition.

"It definitely can," said Jennings when he was asked if the break could be a negative. "Especially since teams have been playing and we haven't been. Anybody can practice, but to have that feel of being on an NBA court is different."

The last time the Pistons had a lengthy break, they laid a massive egg at home against Memphis in the middle of their six-game losing streak, so the approach is more cautious this time around.

"I thought we had good practices this week where we were able to pay attention to detail, clean up some things," said forward Greg Monroe. "Now it's time for us to remember how we came out the last couple games and also translate everything we've been working on in practice, to the games."